Your Mom’s Hot Topic

Your Mom’s Hot Topic

In junior high, Hot Topic was where I’d cobble up loose change to buy a Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt. I’d tentatively walk around the daring clothing and accessory choices that I was far too self-conscious to buy. Even at the counter, I’d avoid eye contact with the pierced, dyed cashier out of guilt for sullying the “goth” store with my boring suburbia look. I understood that Hot Topic was a haven for the misunderstood who got to express themselves through a dark collective of clothing, make-up, music and attitude. And I respected their commitment to a style aesthetic, even though I didn’t totally understand it.

But since 2007, Hot Topic’s been revamping (or “unvamping”) its trademark dark and alternative milieu in favor of pop culture.